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Brazil sues meatpackers over Amazon deforestation

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 17:51:49 GMT

By Fabiano Maisonnave | Associated Pressand Rubens Valenta | Agencia PublicaJACI-PARANA, Brazil — Meat processing giant JBS SA and three other slaughterhouses are facing lawsuits seeking millions of dollars in environmental damages for allegedly purchasing cattle raised illegally in a protected area in the Brazilian Amazon.The lawsuits, filed December 5 to 12 by the western Brazilian state of Rondonia, target the exploitation of a protected area known as Jaci-Parana, once rainforest but now mostly transformed into grassland by decades of misuse by land-grabbers, loggers and cattle ranchers. Despite a law forbidding commercial cattle in the reserve, some 216,000 head now graze on pasture there, according to the state animal division.The lawsuits contain a type of evidence that is getting the attention of deforestation experts and veterans of Brazil’s illegal cattle trade: transfer documents showing cows going straight to the slaughterhouse from protected areas, with the informa...

Pair of men killed Monday in Campbell crash

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 17:51:49 GMT

CAMPBELL — A crash in Campbell killed two men on Monday amid stormy, wet weather, according to police.The single-car collision took place around 1 p.m. on San Tomas Expressway near Budd Avenue. The men, both occupants of the same vehicle, were pronounced dead at the scene.Related ArticlesCrashes and Disasters | Driver killed in Newark freeway crash is identified Crashes and Disasters | Concord: Man killed in collision on Kirker Pass Road Crashes and Disasters | Three killed, five injured in crash on I-680 in Pleasanton Crashes and Disasters | Child killed in alleged Martinez DUI highway crash is identified Crashes and Disasters | Driver says he hit a deer, police found a dead body in his car The crash left a portion of San Tomas Expressway closed for about four hours.Police did not immediately release any other details, including how investigators believe the crash might have unfolded.The identity of the...

Kuwait’s ruling emir, Sheikh Nawaf Al Ahmad Al Sabah, dies at 86

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 17:51:49 GMT

By Jon Gambrell | Associated PressDUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Sheikh Nawaf Al Ahmad Al Sabah, Kuwait’s ruling emir, died on Saturday after a three-year, low-key reign focused on trying to resolve the tiny, oil-rich nation’s internal political disputes. He was 86.Kuwait state television broke into programming with Quranic verses just before a somber official made the announcement.“With great sadness and sorrow, we — the Kuwaiti people, the Arab and Islamic nations, and the friendly peoples of the world — mourn the late His Highness the emir, Sheikh Nawaf Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah, who passed away to his Lord today,” said Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah Al Sabah, the minister of his emiri court, who read the brief statement.Authorities gave no cause of death.Kuwait’s deputy ruler and his half-brother, Sheikh Meshal Al Ahmad Al Jaber, now 83, had been the world’s oldest crown prince. The state-run KUNA news agency said Sheikh Meshal, a longtime leader in the country’s sec...

San Jose: Homicide declared for April death of two-month-old baby after findings of malnourishment, physical abuse

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 17:51:49 GMT

SAN JOSE — The death of a 2-month-old boy earlier this year in San Jose is now being investigated as a homicide after coroner’s officials declared that he was malnourished and had suffered serious head blows, authorities said.No arrests have been made, according to San Jose police. Santa Clara County officials told this news organization that the child, Charles Zheng, and his family had not received any attention from the Department of Family and Children’s Services prior to his death.Officers were called to a local hospital the evening of April 4 regarding the Charles’ death, in accordance with county child-death protocols. San Jose police said homicide detectives — who are summoned as standard procedure for child death cases — interviewed the infant’s parents and collected evidence.However, the child’s cause of death was not declared until Dec. 8, when the county Medical Examiner-Coroner’s Office finalized its autopsy and death...

‘Potted Potter,’ a parody of all things Hogwarts, returns to Bay Area

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 17:51:49 GMT

It’s hard to believe that there’s anyone in a large portion of the world — let alone in the Bay Area — entirely unaware of Harry Potter. Even those who haven’t read the children’s novels by J.K. Rowling or seen the movie versions have probably heard of the wizard school Hogwarts, the broomstick sport Quidditch, and quite possibly the four “houses” into which the students are sorted.For any as yet uninitiated and for diehard Potter fans alike, there’s a madcap summary coming to town.A West End hit created and originally performed by Daniel Clarkson and Jefferson Turner, “Potted Potter: The Unauthorized Harry Experience — A Parody by Dan & Jeff” speeds through all seven Harry Potter novels in 70 minutes. While touring the show hither and yon, either performing it themselves or passing it along to other pairs, Clarkson and Turner created similar parodies, such as “Potted Pirates,” “Potted Panto” and “Potted Sherlock.”Currently performed by an Englishman, Joseph Ma...

Well over 100 delinquencies jolt downtown San Jose housing highrise

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 17:51:49 GMT

SAN JOSE — Notices of well over 100 delinquencies for unpaid homeowners dues have jolted a prominent housing highrise in downtown San Jose, raising ominous new specters of possible foreclosures at the troubled tower.The housing tower at 188 West St. James Street in downtown San Jose was built by a China-based real estate firm, Z&L Properties, whose top boss Zhang Li has been linked to a Bay Area fraud case.The owners association for the 188 West St. James tower has filed notices of at least 190 delinquencies for non-payment of homeowners’ dues for unsold condominiums in the highrise, according to documents filed on Dec. 13 with the Santa Clara County Recorder’s Office.The two-tower project totals 640 units. Each tower contains roughly 320 residences. The delinquencies involve the western highrise in the housing development.A review of a document totaling 184 pages that’s on file with the county revealed that a Z&L Properties affiliate that owns the un...

Ex-Proud Boy who cooperated gets reduced Jan. 6 sentence

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 17:51:49 GMT

By Holmes Lybrand | CNNA former Proud Boys lieutenant and US Marine, whose cooperation was key to the prosecution of the far-right group’s leaders for conspiring to stop Joe Biden from becoming president on January 6, 2021, was sentenced Tuesday to 40 months in prison.Charles Donohoe, 35, was the first of the Proud Boys leadership to enter a guilty plea and assist the prosecutors in their case, which resulted in the conviction of several leaders in the group of seditious conspiracy.Donohoe pleaded guilty to two felony charges related to the US Capitol attack for conspiring to obstruct an official proceeding on January 6 and assaulting an officer by throwing two water bottles at police during the riot.During Donohoe’s sentencing Tuesday, prosecutor Jason McCullough cited his “contribution to” the investigation into the group’s leadership and their plot to stop Biden’s election, adding that Donohoe detailed “the scope of that conspiracy.”Prosecutors asked for a significant reduction i...

Beloved Newark restaurant closes after nearly 54 years

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 17:51:49 GMT

(KRON) -- Edwin Lee drove into Newark from Oakland in 1970 never having been before. He pulled off to have a drink in a bar on Newark Boulevard. Next thing he knows, he's having a beer with the bar owner when the bar owner tells him about a restaurant attached to the bar."He said, 'I really want someone to operate it to get people into the bar and re-enliven the place. I'll give you the place for $1 rent and we'll split the utilities,'" Edwin Lee's son Phil Lee told KRON4. Oakland soul food restaurant to close after 10 years "That week, he decided to open up a Chinese restaurant," Phil Lee said.Phil Lee, 63, and his brother, Jimmy Lee, 65, have been working at Jade Palace in Newark since they were 10 and 12 years old, respectively. They've been running it since their father's sudden death just over a year ago on Nov. 5, 2022. "He fell and had a hemorrhage and at the time he was still working until close to 90 years old," Phil Lee said. "He almost made it. He spent the whole month ...

Rodgers’ return will come next season with Jets out of playoff hunt and QB not 100% healthy

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 17:51:49 GMT

Aaron Rodgers’ quest to make an improbable return this season for the New York Jets appears over.The 40-year-old quarterback said during his weekly appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show” on Tuesday he’s not yet 100% healthy in his recovery from a torn left Achilles tendon and is still a few weeks away.Rodgers said if the Jets had won last Sunday at Miami and remained in the postseason hunt, he “would have pushed it as far as I could this week” even at less than fully healthy to be ready to play against Washington on Sunday. But the Jets were routed 30-0 and eliminated from the playoff hunt for the 13th straight year.“If I was 100% today, I’d be pushing to play,” Rodgers said. “But I’m not. … I pushed it as far as I could.”Rodgers never firmly said he won’t play this season, but strongly indicated that is the case. The Jets opened the 21-day practice window for Rodgers on Nov. 29 and have until Wednesday to activate him from the injured reserve list. ...

Freshman OL Cayden Green transferring home from Oklahoma to Missouri. Alabama lands Texas A&M DL

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 17:51:49 GMT

Offensive lineman Cayden Green announced Tuesday he is transferring home to Missouri from Oklahoma, and Alabama landed a commitment from former Texas A&M defensive lineman LT Overton.The 6-foot-5, 316-pound Green, who is from Lee’s Summit, Missouri, started five games at guard as a freshman for the 12th-ranked Sooners this season. He was one of the top offensive line recruits in the 2023 recruiting class and will have three years of eligibility left.Overton was a five-star recruit who was on track to be in the 2023 class but reclassified to 2022 and was part of Texas A&M’s No. 1-ranked signing class of that year. The 6-5, 265-pound Overton, who is from Georgia, played more as a freshman than a sophomore but overall appeared in 23 games and made 48 tackles. He will have two years of eligibility left.Both revealed their decisions on social media.Georgia received a commitment from London Humphreys, Vanderbilt’s second-leading receiver this past season. Humphre...